Mourners packed a small US church yesterday to say goodbye to the murdered wife and baby of Briton Neil Entwistle in a quiet, dignified service.

Rachel and Lillian Entwistle were remembered by tearful friends and family in the emotionally charged hour-long Catholic funeral mass.

It was ten days ago when the 27-year-old, who used to teach at a school in Redditch, Worcestershire, and her nine-month-old baby were found shot dead in their home in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

There was no sign of Mr Entwistle, who is believed to have flown to the UK before the bodies were discovered and has spent most of the time since then at his parents' house in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

Muffled sobs could be heard above the sound of a solo singer and organ in St Peter's Church, Plymouth, Massachusetts, as a single coffin containing the bodies of Mrs Entwistle and nine-month-old Lillian were carried to the altar.

The murdered teacher's mother, Priscilla Matterazzo, was supported by her husband, Joseph, and clutched a woman mourner tightly. She led the chief mourners into the 19th century church.

As the family left the church she was comforted by family friends and Father Bill MacKenzie, who had led the service.

He reminded the funeral-goers that just seven weeks after celebrating baby Lillian's baptism in the same church, they were gathered again "in the saddest of times".

Computer engineer Mr Entwistle, aged 27, has been labelled a "person of interest" by US investigators, but not a suspect.

During the service one mourner paid tribute to her "wonderful friend" Mrs Entwistle.

The young woman repeat-edly stopped to cry as she stood before the congregation remembering how Mrs Entwistle had helped her through some of her toughest years.

Two other mourners sang an unaccompanied hymn about a mother and child.

About 500 people filled the pews for the service on a cold but sunny day in Plymouth.

Outside, a bank of TV cameras and photographers reminded mourners of the international interest in a tragedy that has shocked both Britain and America.

Mrs Entwistle and Lillian were being buried later in nearby Kingston, where Mrs Entwistle spent her childhood, attending Silver Lake High School.

Mrs Matterazzo paid tribute to her daughter as a woman who was always trying to help others.

Mrs Entwistle taught for three years at Saint Augustine's Catholic High School, in Redditch, Worcestershire, and former students flooded the family's website with emotional messages when her death hit the news last week.

Family friend Father MacKenzie, who had travelled from New Hampshire for the funeral, told the congregation that it was not God's will that they were gathered for the funeral, saying the Lord's plan was "frustrated by the evil that lives among us".

He said: "It was only seven weeks ago that we gathered in this same place to celebrate and pray at Lillian's baptism, to pray that she would always remain close to the Lord.

"Now we are gathered for the saddest of times."

He continued: "There will be people who will wonder why it is God's will that we are gathered today, why it is His will that there is so much sadness.

"It is not God's will. God will weep for us. God will be sad for us."

The Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, who is leading the case, said yesterday officers were following a number of leads and making "consistent progress".

Mr Entwistle was taken voluntarily from his parents' home to London on Friday to meet US officials investigating the killings.

But it was reported that he chose not to talk to them after receiving legal advice ahead of the scheduled meeting at the American Embassy.

On Tuesday he and his parents, Clifford and Yvonne, drove away from the family home in the UK and a neighbour said she had been asked to "keep an eye" on the house because the family were going away for a few days.

He had not been expected to attend the funeral.

Mrs Entwistle and Lillian were discovered lying side by side under a pile of blankets in a bedroom at their £1,500-a-month rented five bedroom house.

Both had been shot although there was so little blood on the bed that officers at first thought they had died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Forensic evidence showed they had died at some point between Friday morning and last Saturday night.

Mr Entwistle is believed to have boarded a flight from Boston to London late on the Friday or early on Saturday.